


Inversion

by Comicsohwhyohwhy



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: KILL THE MONSTER STEVE, M/M, New Avengers, Superior Iron Man, hickman, incursions, maybe some slight spoilers for the comics, or at least things that are hinted at in them, pain and angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 04:43:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2216250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comicsohwhyohwhy/pseuds/Comicsohwhyohwhy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Steve had never wanted Tony to die… (Oh yes, he had wanted him to die, the treacherous little voice says.) (But not like that, on a scorched planet, confused and unaware of what he had done…)</i>
</p><p>Yes. Pain, basically.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inversion

**Author's Note:**

> Just a horrible little scene I was inspired to write after reading _Avengers_ 34\. Also inspired by the cover preview for November's issue of [_New Avengers_](http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=26617&disp=ilib&oty=1&oid=54943), see below.

[](http://imgur.com/jnXTD3b)

Tony kneels in front of Steve, hand at his RT, face screwed up in pain, and for one moment Steve feels nothing but satisfaction. Finally, he has Tony (or the almost inhuman thing Tony has become in the last months, the thing Steve hardly recognises) in his power. Finally, finally, he can stop him from killing more worlds. After months of chasing down the Illuminati one by one, locking them away to keep the world, and other worlds, safe from their heinous actions, he has gotten to Tony, the man at the helm of their despicable deeds. And he can take him out.

Steve reaches into the back pocket of his uniform for a pair of handcuffs. He looks down at Tony once more, helplessly clawing at the scorched earth around him, and feels a twinge of pity. But he doesn’t give himself time to linger on his feelings – there are more important things right now. Steve bends down, cuffs dangling from his arm, and tries to take Tony’s hand. But Tony flinches away from him.

Steve sighs. “Tony, give up. This is over.”

He can’t really see Tony’s face, as the man is looking down, only a black mop of hair visible over his silvery diadem. But he hears a sharp intake of breath.

Steve reaches out to Tony’s hand again and tries to bring his arm round his back in order to cuff his hands there, incapacitating Tony thoroughly. But before he can get very far he hears Tony’s voice.

“Steve…”

Steve pauses. It has been a long, long time since he last heard his name on Tony’s lips (whispered at night, _no, stop_ ). When he slowly turns his head to face the man, he sees Tony looking at him, and the blue glow that had always filled his eyes since that horrible business with the Skull ( _his mortal enemy had managed to turn his best friend into a monster_ ) seems to flicker.

“Steve, what… I don’t know… What…”

Tony’s face is screwed up and his eyes are glazed. With a start, Steve realises that Tony is about to cry. Something must have happened − this isn’t the man he had been chasing over the last few months, the man who fancied himself ‘superior’, superior enough to blow up planets. This, for one moment, seems to be the Tony he used to know ( _the Tony he used to know how to love_ ).

Steve turns around and calls out. “Hank?” His voice is shaking a little.

Hank is already right behind him, frowning at the spectrometer in his hands. “Steve, something seems to have happened when you hit Tony with that Ion-discharge. His vitals are… off the charts.”

Steve swallows and looks back at Tony, who still looks utterly lost. His one hand is still clutching at his RT, as if to find something stable to hold on to.

Steve clears his throat. “Tony, do you know where you are?”

Tony’s eyes flicker back to his, and the blue sheen in them seems to be increasing. For a second, Tony’s mouth seems to be about to curl into a snide smile, but then he falters, his eyes turning darker again, and he shakes his head. “Steve, it… It hurts…”

Behind them, Hank is still fiddling with his device. The thing has started emitting a low beeping sound, and Steve frowns, annoyed at the intrusion. He doesn’t know what to make of this situation. When he hit Tony with the Ion-discharge, he wasn’t even sure the man’s body could take it ( _and he didn’t really care either_ , a small voice in the back of his head says). It was a weapon that had originally been devised by Reed Richards – Steve had… persuaded the man to assist them in their quest for Tony after capturing him – and that had been refined by Hank, which in this case meant, rendered more potent. Steve had known that he had to stop Tony by all means necessary, and he had been ready to take the steps needed. Now, however… Tony crouching in front of him, cheeks wet, obviously not really knowing what was going on…

Steve carefully extends a hand and puts it on Tony’s shoulder. “Tony, come with us, please, we’ll get you sorted out.” (In a cell, the little voice adds.)

The look Tony shoots him is full of pain and confusion, and Steve feels his resolve to hate Tony crumble. “Steve, what have I… what have I done…”

“Let’s speak of that later. I want you to come with me now, okay?”

“I don’t… I don’t have the time…”

“What do you mean? You have all the time in the world, now, you don’t have to concern yourself with the incursions any longer.” Steve can’t stop the bitterness from creeping into his voice. (For months, they – his Avengers – have been trying to find a solution, all to no avail.)

“You… don’t understand. You have hit me with an Ion-discharge, yes?” Tony points at the little controller affixed to Steve’s belt.

“Yes. It took care of taking out your suit. Reed did well.”

Tony’s eyes widen. “Reed…?” He looks hurt, betrayed even.

Steve feels a surge of anger well up. He laughs bitterly. “Yes, your ‘pal’ Reed is in our hands already, back at the Raft. You will be joining him shortly to −”

Suddenly, Tony doubles over, arms wrapped around his body, and a groan escapes his lips. Steve doesn’t want to care, _he doesn’t_ , but he can’t stop himself from putting a hand on Tony’s back to stabilise him. “Tony, what…?”

Hank suddenly appears behind Tony, furiously typing commands into his device. “Steve, his RT is shutting down. The blast must have been too much… I can’t…”

Steve feels a cold hand gripping his heart, and he turns back to Tony, who is whimpering in pain now. “Tony, stay with me, okay?” He never…

Tony’s face has gone white, his eyes are screwed shut and his lips are pressed into a thin line. He is shaking and seems to be hardly conscious, and Steve lowers him into his lap. “Hank, get a replacement RT, _now_.”

“We… are on a razed planet, Steve, there is no replacement. We have to try and get Tony back to earth, but there might not be time… His vitals are dropping rapidly…”

Steve looks down at Tony, the man he hates more than anyone ( _the man he loves more than anyone_ ), and he feels a wave of anger inside him, threatening to overcome him, fighting for release. _This is not fair_. He had never wanted Tony to die… (Oh yes, he had wanted him to die, the treacherous little voice says.) (But not like that, on a scorched planet, confused and unaware of what he had done…) No, never…

Tony is shaking more violently now, and the light in his chest is flickering. It must be like a heart attack. Like the first thing that almost killed Tony, all those years ago, the thing he rebuilt himself from to become Iron Man. Steve feels tears welling up in his eyes.

All of a sudden, Tony seems to get calmer; he exhales and Steve can see a little of the vibrant blue of his eyes shining through his lashes. “Steve…” Tony’s voice is barely more than a whisper.

Steve bends over him, putting his ear close to Tony’s mouth. “I have to… tell… please…” But his voice fades and Steve feels Tony’s body go loose in his arms.

Steve looks to the red sky and screams.

 

********

 

Tony feels the hard, dry ground under him, but it doesn’t seem to give him any stability – his head is reeling, and there’s a sharp pain in his chest, and he doesn’t know what has happened, and he is terrified…

When he lifts his eyes, he sees Steve towering over him, Steve in his shiny new uniform that rather looks like one of his own suits, and he has a device in his hand. Tony’s vision goes blurry, and the next thing he knows, Steve is kneeling in front of him, taking his hand. Tony flinches.

He hears a sigh. “Tony, give up. This is over.”

This… what is over? Tony feels strange, like he isn’t quite himself. There was something… What… He tries to talk, but all he can do is stammer, and Steve doesn’t seem to understand, he doesn’t even react, instead there’s another voice, a conversation between Steve and someone Tony can’t see, and he feels overwhelmed by the pain and the confusion. There’s wetness in his eyes, he knows it, and he is ashamed.

Suddenly, though, memories appear, like bright flashes across a dark canvas, and he remembers… something. He remembers fighting Steve, he remembers desperation and arrogance, and he remembers the Ion-discharge that Steve sent at him just as he was trying to push a button, a button that would destroy a world. Tony takes a shaking breath. He realises that Steve’s face is close to his and he is looking at Tony intently.

“Tony, do you know where you are?”

He doesn’t ( _yes he does_ ), it seems to be a barren planet ( _a planet he killed_ ), but it doesn’t matter, and Tony doesn’t know what he should say, and then there’s _more pain_. “Steve, it… It hurts…”

For a few moments, Tony gets lost in the pain and in the whirlwind of images that are in his mind, but that don’t quite feel like they belong there, somehow, and he doesn’t know what has really happened, what he has done, where the lurid hallucination ends and where his memories begin… Then he notices that Steve is talking again. Tony can’t quite focus, but he hears something about sorting him out, and he doesn’t even remember what that means. It _hurts_. But he has to know what has happened, why Steve is towering over him like that… All those ‘memories’ in his mind, memories of terrible things… He barely manages to voice the question, but when he does, Steve looks even more serious than before. And Tony hates it.

“Let’s speak of that later. I want you to come with me now, okay?”

Tony thinks he could laugh, maybe, if not for the pain and the loneliness and the horrible confusion. “I don’t… I don’t have the time…”

Steve’s voice is bitter when he answers. “What do you mean? You have all the time in the world, now, you don’t have to concern yourself with the incursions any longer.”

Tony knew he wouldn’t understand, and there’s a sense of urgency within him, he has to say some things before it’s too late, and he presses out his answer. “You… don’t understand. You have hit me with an Ion-discharge, yes?” Tony points at the little controller affixed to Steve’s belt.

Steve looks down for a second, and he seems almost satisfied. “Yes. It took care of taking out your suit. Reed did well.”

Tony doesn’t understand. Reed is a friend… Why would he…

Before he can reflect on the matter (it seems so hard to think, his mind is so sluggish), he hears Steve’s angry voice again. “Yes, your ‘pal’ Reed is in our hands already, back at the Raft. You will be joining him shortly to −”

A wave of pain overtakes Tony and he almost blacks out. For a while, there is nothing but blazing hot, white pain, and Tony feels himself shaking, and he doesn’t know where the sky and where the earth is, and he knows he doesn’t have much time left. It feels like a heart attack, in the end, and Tony dimly remembers another heart attack, one he recovered from to become strong and to meet the man he would admire and love, the man who would in the end destroy him.

Tony feels strong arms around him, and for a moment the pain lessens. He tries to open his eyes, but he can’t quite get there (so sluggish). However, he sees Steve, his silhouette, bent over him, and Tony knows he has to tell him something, something he should have told him earlier (so stupid). He opens his lips, and it feels like a gargantuan effort, and he hears his own voice. Then the darkness swallows him up.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [【翻译】Inversion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4122733) by [TypingBird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TypingBird/pseuds/TypingBird)




End file.
